There are days when the pavement seems to be crying out for us to stop for a moment and look around. In an era when routine often drags us between nostalgia for the past and fear of an apocalyptic tomorrow, Barcelona proposes taking a collective pause to look at the present. From October 13 to 18, the city will host a new edition of the Biennal de Pensament, an event that, under the slogan “Unleashing the Present,” invites residents to use the city as the ideal setting to imagine other ways of living.
To achieve this, this initiative—promoted by City Hall through the Barcelona Institute of Culture (ICUB) and organizations such as the CCCB—will transform public spaces into venues for pluralistic dialogue and exchange. The central goal is for thinkers and citizens to work together to find answers to pressing questions: how to foster solidarity in the face of neoliberal exclusion; how cities can serve as democratic refuges against authoritarianism; and, ultimately, what we can do to improve the material and symbolic conditions of all who live in the city.
Voices to Stir Consciences
This year’s program seeks to move away from absolute truths to offer compelling debates from different perspectives. Among the figures invited to speak are prominent names from the world of literature, such as writer Mariana Enríquez, Mallorcan author Antònia Vicens, and poet Chantal Maillard.
Film and the performing arts will be represented by director José Luis Guerin and creator Angelica Liddell, who will share their reflections alongside figures more closely linked to activism and politics. These include Liliam Thuram, a former soccer player and activist; Mexican journalist Eileen Truax, a specialist in migration; thinker Fina Birulés i Bertran; and German artist and communicator Jean-Philippe Kindler, a satirist whom conservative circles in his country do not hesitate to label an “agitator.”
To bring all this well-founded and critical thinking to life, the Biennal has a curatorial team made up of organizations and professionals who work year-round to bring these debates to the streets.
This core group includes philosopher Marina Garcés and journalist Albert Lladó, facilitators at the Escola de Pensament; Mireia Calafell and Berta Subirats, who lead the cultural production company La Sullivan; Elisabet Goula, head of the CCCB’s Center for Documentation and Debates; and Rafael Vilasanjuan, director of Translation and Impact at ISGlobal.
A civic tradition taking root
Launched in 2018,the Biennal de Pensament remains true to its core mission: to turn major cities into a starting point for addressing the challenges facing today’s societies. Since then, the project has sought to protect human rights and democracy through collective, unfiltered dialogue.
Anyone who wants to join this great urban conversation and not miss any of the debates can now mark the dates on their calendar and check out the full program on the event’s official website.
